Darshan quits Crossover; joins GroupM as head of sports marketing business

Darshan M, Director-Sales and Marketing, Crossover Sports Pvt. Ltd, will be joining GroupM to head its sports marketing business. Though the role is national, Darshan will be based in Bangalore. He is replacing Sandeep Goel who had quit GroupM recently to join Zee Sports as Vice President for its sponsorship business.

Darshan had spent the last three years of his career with Crossover where he was involved in a lot of sporting activities including Bangalore Marathon, Bangalore Midnight Marathon, and Bangalore Photography Festival.

“The journey at Crossover over the last three years has been a very memorable one with the opportunity to learn, experiment and create some of Bangalore’s finest experiences. I have now decided to move on and be a little more adventurous. It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is more satisfaction and excitement in being adventurous,” Darshan said.

“At GroupM, I would try and see if I can get more of the existing clients, to try and utilise sports better to attain their marketing objectives. Unlike most other areas of marketing, sports is perhaps the least exploited mode of marketing in India and my idea is to see that many more corporates in India, within the GroupM clientele as well as outside, try and see that they could use sports better,” Darshan added.

Besides creating properties and offering consultancy, Darshan will help GroupM’s clients to spend their money effectively on sports.